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Bellevue
Three Centuries of Medicine and Mayhem
at America’s Most Storied Hospital
By: David Oshinsky
This book was a gift from my son, and he picked a very riveting story. Being a retired registered nurse may have influenced my opinion of the book, but I feel all who read it will thoroughly enjoy the book, as Oshinsky weaves his way through three centuries of history of this famous New York hospital.
Oshinsky takes us from the hospital’s rise from a almshouse infirmary to a public hospital that is now well-known as a great trauma center for visiting world leaders. Bellevue created the first civilian ambulance service, the first nursing school for women, the first outpatient clinics and the first departments of psychiatry and pediatrics. Bellevue has cared for people, including both presidents and paupers, with every disease imaginable. They were proud of the fact they never turned away a patient, regardless of ability to pay.
The story takes the reader through times before sterility was understood, before the use of antibiotics and through the use of many archaic medical practices. It was the AIDS crisis and the devoted staff that worked there during that time that insured Bellevue’s place as New York’s irreplaceable hospital.
This is a dramatic story of human suffering, social crises and amazing scientific innovations. After reading this book, you will understand why Bellevue has been described as “the life beat and death rattle” of New York City. I found this book to be fascinating, informative and, at times, shocking.
About the Author:
David Oshinsky was born in 1944. He graduated from Cornell in 1965 and got his PhD from Brandweis University in 1971. In 2005, he won the Pulitzer Prize in History for his book, POLIO, An American Story. He writes articles and reviews regularly in the New York Times, Washington Post, and The Chronicle of Higher Education.
